Guildford Heat - Team Preview

Guildford Heat

Point Guard: If there was something missing from last year's Guildford Heat team it was a pure point guard. Aaron Drakeford was more of a scoring point, and whilst he put up decent numbers, he wasn't the kind of guy you'd want to construct a basketball team around. His replacement, David Schneider just might be.

The 6'3'' guard is a graduate of William & Mary College, a prestigious institution, where he was named team MVP in his final year averaging 15.5 ppg, 6.0 rpg and 2.9 apg. Schneider is known as a big-game performer and a knock-down three point shooter, averaging 34% from behind the ark.

Lekan Popoola is behind Schneider. The 6'1'' guard has been around the BBL for a long time, and should be a valuable asset in the Heat line up. Last season Popoola was plagued by injury, but now he is back to full fitness he is about as good a back up as you will find in the BBL.

Grade: A-

Shooting Guard: This year the Heat have three highly capable players who have the ability to play both the shooting guard and small forward position. The most likely start is new American Martelle McLemore. This athletic 6'5'' swingman is a skilled scorer and a lock-down defender.

Whilst Brit's Tayo Ogedengbe and Julius Joseph will compete for minutes here too, their primary position is likely to be the small forward, so backing up the 2 guard position will be returning Heat fan-favourite Dean Williams.

The 6'4'' Williams leant his experience to BBL upstarts Essex Pirates last season, but he has now returned to the Heat. Averaging nearly 15 minutes per game at the Pirates, Williams was able to have some big games, but minutes are likely to be scarcer on this more talented Heat team. Expect Williams to provide no more than occasional relief, and veteran leadership.

Grade: B

Small Forward: The is a lot of competition at the 3 for Guildford. On one side we have the experienced former GB international Julius Joseph, who at 35, averaged 18 points per game last season, proving he still has formidable talent. On the other side is Tayo Ogedengbe, a newly capped England international whose career is on the rise. Ogedengbe averaged 12.5 ppg last year, but really came into his own in the second half of the season, averaging close to 19 ppg over the last 10 games.

Perhaps we can expect McLemore, Joseph and Ogedengbe to share these two positions quite fairly, providing enough minutes and more than enough trouble for opposing defences.

Grade: B+

Power Forward: 6'7'' Mike Martin had troubles with injury last season, but now he has returned to prove he is a force in this league. Martin's crocked season ended with him averaging 18.4 ppg and 6.7 rpg over 14 games. If he is able to replicate that kind of production and stay healthy, the Heat are looking at being one of the strongest forces in the BBL.

Martin's age and injuries last season, however, suggest the Heat might have to be prepared to expect his production to be smaller, perhaps than it has been. Even if Martin is back to his best, Heat have still taken a risk in failing to acquire a decent back-up should his niggling injuries play a part this season. American big-man James Porter can spend some time at the power forward, however, and the Heat have depth at the centre.

Grade: B-

Centre: Aforementioned American James Porter is a 6'10'' powerhouse who finished his college education with North Carolina A&T, posting stats of 4 points and 6 rebounds per game at a high level of play. Porter is a great physical presence, both athletic and strong and should link up with Martin, creating a good tandem of inside players for the Heat.

Providing competition for Porter will be the enormous Lithuanian Tomas Janusauskas who averaged impressive statistics on the now defunct London Capital team from last season. Janusauskas was a highlight on a very weak Capital team, and the 7 footer's 18.4 ppg and 9.8 rpg were more a product of the lack of talent around him rather than a genuine dominance of the court. Nevertheless, Janusauskas can do a great job for the Heat, challenging for the big minutes and pushing Porter and Martin to their best play.

Grade: B+

Key Additions: New point David Schneider's success is the key to Heat's season. The quality and depth of this team suggests they shoud be challenging for honours this year.

Key Losses: Player/coach Chad McKnight is a key loss here, not especially because he was a great coach, or even a great player, but going into a new season with a brand new coach with no BBL experience could be the weak point in this team.

Full Roster:

Tomas Janusauskas 7'0'' C
Julius Joseph 6'5'' SF/SG
Mike Martin 6'7'' PF
Martelle McLemore 6'5'' SG/SF
James Porter 6'10'' C/PF
Oskar Ociepa 6'4'' SG/SF
Tayo Ogedengbe 6'6'' SF
Lekan Popoola 6'1'' PG
David Schneider 6'3'' PG
Dean Williams 6'4'' SG